Freelancer Ruby Rose
by Sir Helios Knight of Valor
Summary: Ruby is offered a once in a life-time opportunity by Ozpin - the chance to become a Freelancer in Project Freelancer, at the cost of leaving her team and friends behind for a few years. As it is her duty to help protect the general public, she accepts, despite not knowing much about them. Takes place in Ruby's third year, Ruby is (somewhat) more mature than she was. T for swearing.
1. New Beginnings

**Hello! Welcome to my (somewhat) original fanfic, where Ruby becomes a freelancer. Yeah, kinda self explanatory. By the way, this thing ((-o-)) represents a line break, because it is far more visually appealing than the normal ones.**

(-o-)

Ruby's scroll buzzed, and she stifled a yawn, rolling over and picking it up. It was from Ozpin, she noticed with surprise. She sat up and walked out of the room to answer the call, so she wouldn't disturb her teammates. As she did so, she noticed the time… five thirty in the morning. She grumbled slightly, as it was in fact Saturday, but answered nonetheless.

"Good morning, Miss Rose." Came Ozpin's calm, collected and somewhat cheerful voice from the other end of the scroll. "I trust you slept well?"

Ruby sighed mentally. "'Morning, Ozpin." She said simply. Ozpin held the silence for a brief duration.

"You aren't going to ask why I'm ringing you at such an ungodly hour?"

"Whether I do or don't, you won't tell me any sooner than you otherwise would've." Ruby said tiredly. "I learn from experience." She continued, reflecting back on the fact that this was the… Sixth? Time Ozpin had rung her while she was sleeping over the last few years. To be fair, he… USUALLY… only did it when there was something important going on. Apart from that one time. Ruby sighed again, as Ozpin chuckled.

"I suppose that is true. I would like you to report to my office, so I may offer you… a mission, of sorts, in private. You should feel privileged to get such an opportunity."

"I'll be sure to remember that after I get some sleep." While Ruby was normally a bright, cheerful girl, when she was tired… that was a different case altogether. She didn't need much sleep, but she needed some, and she'd had a late night the previous evening, celebrating Blake's birthday. Yang had kept the private party going until well past midnight.

"Anyway, I'll see you there, Ozpin." Ruby replied casually, knowing Ozpin didn't really care if she addressed him informally. She hung up, and walked lazily and quietly down the corridors to his office, making sure not to disturb any of the lucky students that were still asleep. She arrived quickly, having basically memorised the route, as he called on her with alarming frequency. She had always been a prodigy, but after a few years training in the best combat school in the world, she was easily better than most fully fledged huntresses, and that was without her team. As such, Ozpin often requested she and her team do special missions, and in exchange they got higher marks in their classes, as extra credit.

It wasn't a perfect system, and often Ruby felt they didn't really need the reward; they were just doing their job, but Ozpin insisted on it. Lost in her own thoughts, Ruby barely noticed where she was going until she had arrived, stopping outside the door to his office. She knocked politely.

After a brief delay, Ozpin replied. "Come in." She opened the door and walked in, and he turned around from his window. "Ah, Miss Rose. Please, take a seat." He said. Ruby snorted slightly, sitting down.

"You called me about two minutes ago, who else where you expecting?" She asked rhetorically.

"It was simply a formality." He replied, taking a sip from his ever present coffee mug, although Ruby knew it actually held tea. The man _hated_ coffee, with a burning passion. He looked up from his cup, and looked at her seriously.

"Now, recently this school has been provided with… a very special opportunity for one of our Hunters or Huntresses. However, none of the staff who would like to go are suitable, and there are no other fully-fledged Hunters on these grounds. They people providing the opportunity were quite insistent that it were a full-fledged Hunter or Huntress, meaning some… modifications need to be made."

Ruby looked at him confusedly, until he continued.

"As such, should you accept this mission, you will be promoted to a huntress immediately, graduating from this academy, and participate in your first solo mission." Ozpin stated calmly.

Ruby's heart leapt for joy. An opportunity to become a full-fledged Huntress? She was ecstatic, however a thought occurred to her.

"Umm… Sir? Aren't I a bit young?"

Ozpin chuckled. "You are eighteen as of a month and a half ago, meaning you are legally an adult, and your combative skills are on par with where they should be for such a role. As such, the only requirement of being a Huntress you have yet to meet, is graduating from this academy." Ruby basically started bouncing in her chair, however restrained herself enough to turning into slight twitches. "However, there is one thing I must warn you." Ozpin continued, taking a long draught from his mug.

"This is a single person opportunity, and even if I could send the rest of your team, I wouldn't. You will likely be away for at least a year, and in that time you will not be able to contact your family or friends."

"Oh…" Ruby said, feeling slightly disheartened.

Ozpin turned back around, gazing out of his window at the rising sun.

"Do not let your concern for the wellbeing of others make your decision, Ruby. You are welcome to turn down this mission, but if you do I would like it to be for your own reasons, not a sense of responsibility. Nonetheless, you may discuss it with your teammates, however, I will not give you any further details about the assignment until you have made up your mind. We don't want classified information in the hands of those it doesn't involve, although I sincerely doubt you will decline. Thank you for your time Ruby, you have the day to make up your mind. You are dismissed."

Ruby turned and left, her mind running a thousand miles a minute, thoughts swirling around her head. She walked back in silence to her dorm, where her team were still asleep, and she climbed back into her bed, thinking her decision through. Could she really leave her teammates like that for a whole year? Who would replace her in the team while she was gone? Would they be okay with it?

She sighed and lay back, looking at the time. Six thirty. She groaned, still an hour before her teammates woke up. She lost herself back in her thoughts. Did she really want this? She wanted to be a Huntress, that was for sure, and it was her duty to protect people, regardless of her personal opinion. But she didn't want to leave her friends. She lay there, thoughts whirring around her head and brining up more questions than they did answers, until she heard muttering.

She tuned it out, still trying to figure out what she would do, when she heard the muttering again, and focused on it.

"-what's wrong." The voice said, causing Ruby to frown and sit up. She looked down at her teammates, who were all awake and dressed, looking up at her.

Yang broke into a smile. "Sis! You're finally awake! We were beginning to get worried, it's not like you to sleep in like that."

Ruby scowled. "I've been awake a while, I'm just… thinking."

Yang snorted. "Well you can think in the cafeteria, I'm starving." At this comment, Weiss face palmed.

"You were the one who suggested we wait, you blundering oaf." She said wearily.

Ruby felt a twinge of guilt. "Oh… sorry to have kept you guys waiting, let's go have breakfast." The three looked up at her, confused, and Ruby looked back at them, even more confused.

"Um… Ruby? It's two in the afternoon. We're going for lunch."

That jolted Ruby out of her bed. She'd been thinking _that long?_

"What were you thinking about, anyway?"

Ruby sighed, as her stomach grumbled. "Let's eat first, I'll tell you guys later."

(-o-)

"So, sis, whacha been thinking 'bout?" Yang asked, draping her arm across Ruby's shoulder. All through their meal, Ruby had been uncharacteristically quite, often zoning out and missing questions directed at her, and barely touching her food.

Ruby hesitated, and all three looked expectantly at her. "Well…" Ruby began awkwardly. "Ozpin called me earlier, and I went to his office. He offered me the chance to be a fully-fledged Huntress, and have an early graduation."

Yang beamed and pulled her into a bear-like hug. "Oh, that's great Ruby!" She yelled.

"That's…. not… all…" Ruby chocked out, until Yang released her. "There's a downside. If I accept, I have to go on a mission that means I won't be able to see or speak or communicate with you guys for at least a year." She said shyly, looking at the ground.

An awkward silence filled the room as they all took in what it entailed. Weiss was the first to speak up.

"You should do it."

They all looked at her, surprised.

"Huh?" Ruby asked.

Weiss shook her head. "You should do it. Being a Huntress has always been your dream, ever since you were a kid, hasn't it?" Ruby nodded. "Then don't let us hold you back. We can manage a year without you. You should do it."

"Well, the princess kinda does have a point." Yang said. "You should do it, Rubes."

Blake nodded to Ruby, always being the quiet and antisocial one, and the nod spoke volumes of her response.

Ruby nodded, then pulled all three of them into a group hug. "I'll miss you guys!"

Yang patted her head. "We'll miss you too, sis. When do you have to leave?"

"Tonight, I think." Ruby replied.

"Then you'd better start packing, Yang said, beaming."

"You aren't upset?" Ruby asked, somewhat surprised.

"'Course not! This isn't goodbye, we'll see you again soon! I know it." Yang replied happily. "Until then, go and live your dream, Ruby."

Weiss and Blake smiled encouragingly, and as if on cue Ruby's scroll beeped.

"What's that?"

"A message from Ozpin." Ruby replied, frowning and looking at it. It told her not to pack anything, should she choose to accept. Ruby had a sneaking suspicion that Ozpin had bugged there room. Heck, knowing him, he probably had every single room and hallway in the building bugged, and she knew for a fact he had hundreds of hidden cameras in the Emerald Forest.

"I should probably go tell Jaune, then let Ozpin know I'm accepting." Ruby said sadly. "Goodbye, I'll see you guys soon."

Yang pulled her into another crushing hug. "Goodbye." Yan replied, and Ruby wasn't sure why, but it held some kind of… finality to it. Ruby's had as well, and it made the whole scene feel very morbid, so Ruby left, knocking on team JNPR's door, which was across the hall from them. Jaune answered.

"Hey, Jaune, is your team around?" She asked, he nodded and gestured inside, where his team was sitting.

"Right…" Ruby said, closing the door behind her. "There's something I need to tell you guys." She said awkwardly. "I'm going to be leaving on a mission soon… and I probably won't be back for a while. So, uh, goodbye, I guess." She said to all of them, who replied in similar fashion absentmindedly, each doing their own thing, all clearly preoccupied. Ruby turned and left, walking back to Ozpin's office.

She knocked on the door, and after a short pause, Ozpin beckoned her in.

He turned to her. "Have you made up your mind?"

She nodded. "Yes, I would like to participate."

He nodded. "Congratulations on graduating from this academy, Huntress Ruby Rose. Your mission starts immediately. Are you ready?"

Ruby nodded again, and Ozpin tapped his cane against the ground. All of a sudden, the whole room began shifting, and numbers appeared floating in the air, with clock hands spinning quickly between them, almost as if the whole room were a giant clock face. Ruby began to feel dizzy.

"Remember, act natural and try to fit in." Ozpin called out. "Some things may be strange, but you will grow accustomed to them in time. Those in charge are already aware of your status, and will explain things further once you are there."

Ozpin continued speaking, but his voice was drowned out by a whistling sound. Ruby clutched her heads, grunting in frustration as the world span around in a vortex around her.

(-o-)

Ruby awoke, her head spinning and feeling sick, kneeling on a hard ground. She opened her eyes, and found herself in a plain room, with a table and three chairs. The walls and ceiling, and floor, were a dull grey.

"Well it's about damn time." A man grunted. He had… a strange accent. His voice was very aggressive and impatient, as if he had better things to do. "Counsellor, if you may." He said to a man beside him. Ruby had thought her head was still spinning, as she couldn't clearly see them, until she realised it was actually some strange effect of the light, as if they were concealed from view. The men wore dark grey suits, and stood behind two of the chairs.

"Please, take a seat. We understand this procedure might be a bit… confusing for you, but we will try to make it as painless and safe as we can." The second man, the counsellor said. His voice was soft and calming, almost soothing in nature, and he spoke gently. "I am the Counsellor, and the man besides me is the Director. Are you feeling okay?"

She nodded. "Just… just a little bit dizzy."

"Do not be concerned, that will pass." The chairman said calmly. "Now please, tell us what you know of what is going on."

"Absolutely nothing." Ruby replied honestly. The Director scoffed, and the counsellor nodded.

"Very well. We are an independent organisation known as 'Project Freelancer'. You have been sent here to be our new Agent."

"I'm… not entirely sure what you mean." Ruby replied.

The Director scoffed. "Allow me to lay it out in Layman's terms for you. You've been sent here to be one of our fighters, in our fight to save humanity. You're ours now."

"What the Director is trying to say, is that we are an organisation dedicated to finding ways to combat an alien species, known as the Covenant, who are a threat to humanity. You have been sent here to act as one of our specialist soldiers. As this is a military operation, you are expected to follow standard military protocol, including undergoing military training and learning proper procedure. The training normally takes years, but as you are a… special case, it will probably only take a few weeks." The counsellor interjected.

"Great!" Ruby said optimistically.

"While you are here, you will have a codename, as our Agents do not go by their own names for safety purposes. While this may be a different case for you as no one could track you, I believe it is good to maintain a sense of normality with the other Agents." The Director added. "As such, we have constructed a list of all the available names, and you are free to choose your own."

The Counsellor took out a strange electronic device from somewhere, and held it out to her. It was holographic, and seemed to be very similar to a scroll. On it was a list of dozens of names, like Arizona, California and Oregon. None of them meant anything to Ruby, and there were nearly forty, if she had to guess. She decided to go with one near the bottom.

"Um… I'd like this one, if that's okay." She said, pointing to her name of choice.

The Director smirked. "Very well. Welcome to Project Freelancers, Agent West Virginia."

Ruby nodded.

"Now, for the matter of armour and weapons. You may choose the colour scheme of your armour, as all of our Agents are provided with the choice. Choose one primary colour, which will compose most of your armour, and one trim, from the list." The Director continued. Once again, the counsellor held up his tablet… thing, and this time the list was different. She quickly read through and decided.

"Red with a steel trim?"

"Very well. Counsellor, arrange it." The Director said, causing the counsellor to tap some buttons on the screen. The Director turned back to her. "Now there is one more thing we must discuss. Your armour will greatly enhance many of your physical aspects, including strength, resilience and speed. In addition to this, however, you will be provided with your own personal armour enhancement. Yours will be an active camouflage unit, as I have heard you are a hit and run type fighter. This unit, when active, will allow you to blend in with your surroundings, provided you aren't moving to much. However, activating it is dangerous, and could cause death if done incorrectly, so do not use it until you are instructed on how. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir." Ruby replied.

"Very well, you are dismissed. Counsellor, please lead her to the accommodation, and give her the instruction manual for how to put on her armour. West Virginia, someone will be sent to collect you for training and oh-six-hundred hours."

"This way please." The counsellor said, leading Ruby down a dozen different corridors, each looking nearly identical, to a room. He opened it, and showed her inside, handing her a small booklet. "These are the instructions on how to don your armour, which will be delivered over night. Good luck, Agent." He said, walking out of the room.

Ruby looked around what would be her new home. It was large, slightly bigger than her dorm back at beacon, and made of marble, which made it look even larger. It was lit brightly by some lights hanging from the ceiling, and the only thing in the room was a single bed, the rest of it absolutely devoid of life, remaining empty and dull.

Ruby sighed and walked over to her bed, lying down as a wave of exhaustion hit her. Perhaps she should take a rest… just a short one.

(-o-)

**Thank you for reading.**


	2. Welcome to the Mother of Invention

**Thank you for the positive reception! It means a lot to me. I hope not to disappoint your expectations, updates will be about once a week unless I have other things on, but I will say in advance when I do.**

**(-o-)**

**TIME: 0600**

**DATE: XX/XX/XXXX**

**Location: Mother of Invention, en route to sidewinder.**

An alarm went off quietly, rousing Ruby from her slumber. She rolled over slightly, trying to go back to sleep, but the alarm continued, so she sat up and shook her eyes. Suddenly, the room was filled with bright light.

"Good morning, Agent West Virginia." Came a robotic, yet clearly female voice from somewhere or another. Ruby nearly jumped, having completely forgotten about the whole thing. She waited until her eyes had stopped hurting from the harsh light, then opened her eyes. The room was the same as she recalled it.

"The Director requested I wake you at this time, oh-six-hundred hours. I am the Artificial Intelligence designated as 'F.I.L.I.S'. It is a pleasure to meet you. He requested I informed you that your armour has been delivered to you, as well as instructions on how to don it. It should be to your left."

Ruby looked, and sure enough, dozens, if not hundreds, of small metal pieces lay on the floor in a pattern, yet still looking like armour. She figured the pieces must slot together. The armour was between her and the door, facing her, with a small paper booklet lying on top of it, which was titled 'instructions'. It didn't take a genius to figure out what it was for.

"Please note that at oh-six-hundred and thirty hours, Freelancer New York will arriving, to escort you around the facility and introduce you to training. Please try to be ready in time. Have a good day."

Ruby stood up, groaning in annoyance. Basically, the computer had said 'you have half an hour to figure out how to put on this armour, no time for showering or anything else. Good luck.' She walked over to the booklet, and started reading through it.

**(-o-)**

**TIME: 0629**

**DATE: XX/XX/XXXX**

**Location: Mother of Invention; Agent West Virginia's Dorm**

Ruby groaned in annoyance as she finally fitted the last piece of armour on, and it clicked. She picked up her helmet, which had luckily come preassembled, and put it over her heard. Luckily, it's size meant it wouldn't impair her vision. The black visor suddenly whirred, and her vision became much clearer, several weird holographic… things, showing up in the corners.

Huh, a heads-up-display. Useful. She looked down at herself, and had to admit, the armour looked AWESOME. It was a terrific shade of red, and while it was quite loose on her, the design was marvellous, and it held itself up almost weightlessly. If it wasn't for the helmet, she wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

Well, that isn't entirely true. Since she put it on, she had felt two things. One; her aura was strangely muffled, almost inaccessible, and two; she felt stronger and faster than she had before. She was broken from her thoughts by a knocking at her door. She checked the time in her HUD, and sure enough, it read 06:30. That had taken a while.

"Uh, come in." She said, unsure of how to respond. The door slid open and a figure in tan armour similar to her own stepped through. They were almost a foot taller than she was, and was gazing intently at her. She didn't need to see behind their visor to see than. She stood at attention, saluting as best she could. They chuckled.

"So, you're the new recruit, huh?" The man asked rhetorically. His voice was somewhat gruff, but also friendly and cheery. "No need for the formalities with the other Freelancers, only around the Director. After all, we're just one big family, and we're your equals. Anyway, my name's York." He continued.

"Agent West Virginia, sir." She replied politely. He might not mind her dropping the formalities, but they came very unnaturally to her, so she knew she needed practise. No time like the present.

"So, West, huh? Why'd you pick that?" He asked, and Ruby shrugged. He chuckled again. "Well, come on. We've got some things to attend to before breakfast. And believe me, once you've seen the cafeteria, you won't want to be late. The food's pretty bad if you're there early, but it somehow gets worse."

The man, York, turned and left her room, Ruby trailing behind him. The door slid closed as they both exited, and York turned and headed down the corridor, leading her through a labyrinth of identical dull, grey stretched of hallway with practised ease. The two walked in an awkward silence, Ruby bursting with questions, but not sure if she should ask them, while York merely looked… contemplative, striding purposely through the halls with his mind clearly elsewhere.

After agonising minutes of silence, they arrived at a small room, with the same dull colour scheme as the rest of the building. One of the walls, however, had been removed, leaving a large glass pane, which looked down onto a spacious room.

"This is the observatory, where you can watch any training or matches going on." York explained. "Although this particular one is for scheduling matches. Normally us Freelancers aren't allowed in here, but today I have the Director's permission. There are a couple other ones, though. Hell, most of the ship's rooms can see it."

_Ship?_ Ruby thought.

"Today, you get to schedule one of your own matches." He said, walking over to a small pedestal and beckoning her over. On top of the pedestal was an electronic device similar to the one the Counsellor had shown her yesterday. There was a list of twelve names on it.

"They're organised in ranking, from top to bottom. Pick anyone, and you get to fight them about lunch time."

Ruby studied the list, then noticed a board on another side of the room. It showed the top six Agents from the list, a leader board, she guessed. She decided she should try to get on the leader board to show her potential, so she reached out and tapped the name 'Washington', who was ranked sixth, on the pedestal. The other names disappeared, and Washington enlarged, with some weird blue lines spreading in a pattern, before underneath a message appeared.

It read 'Match Confirmed', with the time '1030', showing up under 'time'. The was also a section for date, which was strangely concealed, each of the digits being replaced by an X. It read XX/XX/XXXX. How utterly useful, Ruby thought sarcastically, scoffing mentally.

"Great!" York exclaimed, patting her on the shoulder. "Now let's go eat." He continued, with a hint of eagerness in his voice.

"That's all we needed to do? I thought you said 'things', not 'thing'!" Ruby protested jokingly.

"Yeah, well, one of the main things was helping you put your armour on, but you seemed to get that fine."

"There was an instruction manual."

"You would be _amazed_ by how stupid 'brilliant' or 'strong' people can be." York joked. "Take Wyoming for example. It took him _three hours_ to get his on the first time, _with an assistant helping_!" Ruby snicked slightly, York laughing loudly. York turned a corner, leading into a huge, open room with tables.

The room was completely empty, and he gestured for her to sit down. By the time she had, he was already at her side with two trays of food.

"Wha-" She started, only for him to cut her off with a hand.

"Don't ask, don't tell."

Ruby took the hint, curious as to what he could be hiding. She took off her helmet and looked down at her food, which was a bowl of porridge, an apple, a banana, a steak and a… milkshake? It was a shake of some time. She sipped it, and it tasted disgusting. The rest of the food was okay, and she did manage to force the shake down.

York removed his own helmet, revealing a somewhat handsome face, with short brown hair and a strong jaw. He held himself confidently, and was smiling lightly.

"Normally, there'd be three four others sitting here, but Wash is still in bed, and North, South and Carolina are off on missions." York explained. "So it's just you and me."

"Wash? You mean Washington?" Ruby asked.

"Yep, same way most people will probably call you West. It's just so much easier. And also yep, he's the guy you're gonna be fighting. This'll be interesting to say the least. I'd give you a heads up on his fighting style, but that'd be cheating."

"Okay. So, do you mind telling me a bit about yourself?" Ruby asked.

"Like… what?"

"Oh you know, name, hobbies, likes and dislikes, and dreams for the future. That kind of thing."

York chuckled. "We aren't really meant to talk about our past lives in the project. Sorry, kiddo."

"Hey!" Ruby protested at the nickname.

"Well, anyway, when we finish eating I'll show you around the facility."

**(-o-)**

**TIME: 0700**

**DATE: XX/XX/XXXX**

**Location: Mother of Invention armoury**

'So, this is the armoury." York concluded. Ruby's eyes went wide under her helmet, and she started dashing all over the room to study the weapons. There were easily several hundred different weapons, from strange little balls to huge sniper rifles. She felt a pang of pain in her chest when she remembered she no longer had Crescent Rose, but pushed those thoughts from her head.

"What does this do?" She asked, indicating a weird metal thing that fit into her hand neatly. The shape was wrong for a grenade. York snatched it out of her hand and tenderly placed it down.

"That's an energy sword, very volatile. It got damaged when we retrieved it, and they haven't finished repairing it. When they have, they'll probably send it to a sim base."

"Sim base?" Ruby asked.

"Bases for simulation troopers, the soldiers who got the lowest training scores, worst tactics and physically capabilities so low they are puffed from a ten foot jog. They're… how do I put this lightly… live target practise. They usually don't last very long, if you get what I mean." Ruby widened her eyes in shock, trying to comprehend the thought of using other humans as target practice. It was cruel. York apparently expected her reaction.

"Sick, isn't it? They fight a fake war with equal equipment and numbers so it doesn't go anywhere, and use freelancers get sent in to… practice. Then the dead soldiers are replaced, and the cycle continues." He said wistfully. "Oh well, I guess it is what they signed up for. The cruellest thing we could do would be to let them know it's a fake war, many would be shattered, and no matter what we do, some time or another a freelancer's gonna kill them, even if they quit the army. Don't worry though, you rarely have to visit sim bases unless you ask to."

"Good. I don't think I could bring myself to kill the innocent like that."

Ruby felt York raise an eyebrow, but dismissed the feeling, having no proof of such an action as he was wearing full body armour. She turned back to the weapons, studied the specks of each of them. Some she had no idea about, but she could figure out most just from the design.

'I'm sure you'll get to pick a weapon or two to be your own once you're ranked." York commented, noticing her careful studying of each one. "Most are pretty basic, but a few have special features. For the most part though, we just use standard guns. Much easier to learn and use efficiently if you don't have to worry about avoiding certain buttons. Much more reliable too, less likely to jam and easier to find ammunition for."

Ruby nodded, continuing to examine the rifle she was holding. It was strange, being semi-automatic, but still being designed to fire several bullets at once. Why not make it fully automatic? She shook her head, moving slowly to the next one, her excitement draining more and more as she realised how basic all of these weapons were. All they did was propel projectiles, and the projectiles were more interesting than the actual guns.

They definitely weren't dust infused, causing her to wonder how they fired. She shrugged, knowing she would figure out fairly quickly after she used one. Maybe they used a chemical of some kind? But that wasn't sustainable, and meant it would be deafeningly loud, with a lot less kick. At least, in comparison to what Ruby was used to.

"What's the firing agent?" Ruby asked curiously.

"That what?" York asked.

'You know, the thing that propels the bullet out of the casing."

"I have NEVER heard ANYONE call it a 'firing agent' before." York chuckled. "But to answer your question, gunpowder."

Ruby blanked, remembering the history of Remnant: gunpowder had been tried before they found dust, and it was very inefficient, and almost useless. Maybe they had found a way to amplify it's power?

"Okay. Thanks." Ruby replied simply, placing the rifle down and reaching to pick up the next gun, only for York to stop her.

"We can't spend all day in the armoury. I still have to show you around the ship."

"Aw…" Ruby whined. York shook his head and lead her out.

**(-o-)**

**TIME: 1020**

**DATE: XX/XX/XXXX**

**Location: Mother of Invention training room**

York had lead her around for most of the day, and she was beginning to see a sense of order in the design (although she knew she would still get lost… frequently), only for York to cut the tour short, leading her into the 'training room', where he had told her she would be fighting Washington shortly. Sure enough, her clock read 10:21. She was still getting used to the heads-up display… it was somewhat annoying, although too useful to turn off.

"Agents West Virginia and Washington, please report to the training floor. Your match will begin in – Eight minutes and twenty three seconds." Came the voice of F.I.L.I.S over a speaker. Ruby was already at the training floor, so she didn't bother budging.

"Welp, I'll go and join the crowd to watch you. Best of luck, West." York said, strolling away. Ruby looked up in confusion, only to notice dozens of soldiers in identical white armour behind a glass panel, and in a different… panel… room… thingy, there were two figures in white armour, one with a helmet that seemed to be entirely visor and a dull yellow, and behind them, the Counsellor and Director.

Ruby gulped nervously. She was never really good under pressure, so she tried to ignore the dozens watching her, instead mentally preparing herself for her fight. Her opponent, Washington, walked through a door on the opposite side of the room, and from the concrete floor, a small platform sprang up on both sides. Each held a single staff-like weapon, cackling slightly with electricity on each end. Ruby picked hers up and twirled it, as the slab below retracted.

"Good luck." Washington said, and Ruby was so shocked she nearly dropped her weapon. He sounded EXACTLY like Ozpin.

"All Agents accounted for." Came F.I.L.I.S's voice. "Round one: Pugil sticks training. Beginning in five…"

Ruby turned to face her opponent, who wore grey armour, and held the … Pugil? Stick awkwardly in his hands, clearly not an expert with the weapon.

"Four…"

She started to walk towards him, circling him slightly, and he responded in kind.

"Three…"

Ruby braced herself, adjusting her stance and grip.

"Two… One… Round begin."

Ruby ran forward, crossing the ten metre gap in a few seconds, swinging the stick at Washington's head. Washington ducked under the blow, staggering back as he lost his footing. Ruby immediately capitalised, following up by spinning with her momentum and striking again. It made a satisfying 'crack' against Washington's armour, and he was flung back.

Ruby stood where she was, politely allowing him to stand back up and regain his balance. A sense of etiquette was only fair, as there was no honour in fighting a downed opponent.

Washington shook his head, before running at her much slower, attempting a predictable strike, which Ruby blocked with her Pugil Stick. It was like an electrified quarterstaff, she realised. Wash jabbed at her chest, and Ruby rolled forward and under his arm, sweeping the weapon at his feet. Caught by surprise, her was tripped and Ruby athletically jumped to her feet next to him, as he began to stand up.

Not wasting time, Ruby connected the end of her staff with Washington's face, and it broke of, sending him flying.

"Round one – over. Point awarded to West Virginia." F.I.L.I.S announced. Washington stood up uncertainly, clearly dazed, and tossed his staff aside. Ruby followed suite. Washington shook his head and took a boxing stance.

"Beginning hand-to-hand combat. Round two beings in five…"

Ruby quickly took her own fighting stance, and the two once again circled each other.

"Four… Three… Two… One… Round begin."

The two faced off for a few seconds, before Ruby sprang in, kicking at Washington's head. He ducked the blow and tried to kick her leg from under her while she was off-balance, but she predicted the move and leapt nimbly over it, landing on her back on the ground and vaulting up, kneeing him in the stomach as she did so. Washington let out an 'oomph', and clutched his stomach reflexively, only for Ruby to kick him in the head, knocking him to the ground. He made no sign of getting back up any time soon.

"Round two: over. Point awarded to West Virginia. Now resetting the floor for lockdown paint scenario."

Already? That guy clearly wasn't good at fighting, she thought to herself. She was flung out of her thoughts, however, when dozens of large, concrete blocks rose from the ground in rows. A smaller platform rose in front of her, with a pistol and two magazines of ammunition on it. Ruby picked up the pistol, loading one round into it and wondering what to do with the other, tapping it to her thigh distractedly. Her decision was made, however, when there was a faint click and it attached itself. Cool, the suit was magnetic.

Ruby cocked her pistol and waited for the round to start. She heard a faint groaning from the other side of the room, which meant Washington was probably still on the floor. Ruby shook her head, she really hadn't kicked that hard. It was kind of pathetic for someone in a set of kick-ass armour to be taken down so easily.

"Round Three in five… four… three… two… one, round begin." F.I.L.I.S announced.

Ruby moved forward, taking cover behind one of the pillars. She peeked around the corner, rolling diagonally to be behind another one. She figured this was some kind of paintball exercise, they wouldn't have them shooting each other with really guns… right? She hoped not.

She once again rolled forward, only to hear a strange 'pew' of a gun firing. There was seriously no other way to explain the noise, it was such a pathetic noise for a gun to make. She looked behind where she had rolled, to see a glob of pink… stuff, had hit the floor. Had she been any slower, it would've hit her, she assumed. Her head darted around the corner in time to see Washington take cover behind a pillar, two in front and one to the right. Like a knight in chess. She chuckled at the thought, she really had spent too much time around Ozpin if she thought in chess terms.

She moved quietly up closer, but didn't go for the pillar he had been behind, knowing any competent opponent would've moved. Instead, she scanned to the right, and was rewarded with the sight of him dashing quickly across a gap. She took aim and fired, the glop of pink clipping his shoulder slightly, and there was a slight grunt of surprise. He rolled out of the pillar, firing three shots in rapid succession at her, forcing her to duck behind the pillar.

He was fast and accurate, she had to give him that. In that split second, he had fired off three shots that would've hit her in the chest, head and neck.

She ducked back out of cover, firing a retaliation shot at where he had been, but he completed his roll. She quickly moved to a different pillar, only for him to come around the corner as she did so. She reacted slightly faster, ducking his shots and spinning, kicking the gun out of his hand and feeling _very_ grateful for the acrobatics training Blake had made her sit through.

The gun spun into the air, and Ruby stood up, shooting him in the leg as he tried to back away, before pressing the gun against his visor.

"Checkmate." She said simply, firing. S tiny glob of pink expanded rapidly on impact, covering his entire helmet as he jerked into an awkward position and moaned in pain.

She looked up at the scoreboard on one side of the room, which showed she had indeed won the point that round. She had been afraid that because she had kicked him, maybe it wouldn't count. She was glad to see anything went.

"Round three complete. Please return to your starting positions for the next round."

Ruby walked back to where she had started, and the same tiny pillar rose again with another clip of ammo, to replace the one she had used. She quickly swapped the clips, and waited.

"Round Four in five… four… three… two… one… round begin."

Ruby began using the same strategy, rolling from cover to cover, only to almost immediately be hit in the chest by a shot from Washington. She yelped in pain as the goo sprouted on her chest, almost completely disabling her movements, as she was flung back into a pillar. She rolled awkwardly to the side, dodging the three follow up shots, only for a fourth to clip her right foot. It REALLY stung… she stood awkwardly, barely able to move and hissing in pain, her flexibility extremely limited.

She spun the corner, gun raised, only to be hit in the face… no, visor, but Washington."

**(-o-)**

**TIME: 1130**

**DATE: XX/XX/XXXX**

**Location: Training floor**

"Match complete. Final score is – six – four, advantage West Virginia. The match goes to West Virginia."

Ruby stood panting, collapsing onto a nearby wall. Washington had put up an excellent fight, the last few rounds dragging on four about ten minutes each, and she saw Washington growling in frustration at having lost. Ruby was bruised all over, although the goo had all faded from her armour. The doors at the side of the room slid open, and York walked in. At first, Ruby thought he was coming for her, but he walked over to Washington and had a bit of a heated discussion with him.

She looked up to the glass panes, and saw the other Freelancers turning to leave, the Director and Counsellor discussing something. She turned back to York, and tuned in on their conversation.

"Come on, let's go greet North and South when they get back from their mission. Then we'll find something to cheer you up."

An unfamiliar Freelancer in white armour walked over to her.

"I presume you need a bit of a hand finding your way around still? I remember when I first got here." They said with a strong British accent, giving her a hand up.

"Yeah, I do… Thanks…?"

"Wyoming." The man supplied. "And think nothing of it, you can't help being new." He turned and began leading her through the halls.

**(-o-)**

"Counsellor, please update the board." The Director commanded, and the Counsellor touched some buttons. The names 'North Dakota' and 'South Dakota' switched places on the leader board, and 'Washington' was replaced by 'West Virginia'.

"That is all. Dismissed."

"I thought you said the mission was a _success_, sir!" South spat out, removing her helmet.

"One of the mission objectives was stealth. Your carelessness revealed our intention and made our next mission more difficult. They'll be ready for us. Dismissed." The Director shot back, and South stormed out of the room.

**(-o-)**

**Thank you for reading! As you have probably figured out, this takes place at about the same time as episodes 2-5 of season Nine of RvB.**


	3. Agent Texas

**As a heads up, I am going to be having time skips when nothing important is happening. While you might want to read everyday Freelancer life, I have NO idea how to even BEGIN writing that. I apologise for this, and where I know what I'm doing I will do them, but aside from that I won't be.**

**(-o-)**

**TIME: 1143**

**DATE: XX/XX/XXXX**

**Location: Corridor**

Ruby walked down the hallway with Wyoming, only to be knocked into from behind, slammed into the ground.

"Hey, what the-" She started, only to be interrupted by a figure in pink armour yelling over her.

"Watch where you're fucking going!" They screeched in a shrill, feminine voice, only to continue marching down the hall. Wyoming patted her on the shoulder.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, fine." She replied. She heard another set of footsteps and turned around to see another figure, this time in purple armour walking towards them. They seemed to notice Ruby brushing herself off.

"Oh, she didn't… sorry about my sister. I-I better go." The voice said, this time clearly male, passing them and walking quickly after the girl in pink.

"Well... That was, unusual." Wyoming said slowly.

"Who were they?" Ruby asked.

"The one in pink was South, the one in purple was her twin brother, North. I wonder what could've caused that." He asked rhetorically.

"The leader board was updated." Said a suspiciously familiar voice from behind them. Ruby and Wyoming turned around to see a figure in greenish-blue armour leaning against a wall. "North overtook her. But that wasn't the only change. I take it you're West Virginia?" The woman asked. Ruby nodded and held out her hand. The woman looked at it strangely, ignoring it.

"I'm Carolina. I'm surprised you overtook Washington so quickly, being the new Agent and all. I look forward to seeing you fight." With that, Carolina turned and left.

Ruby sighed. "Why is everyone here so weird? They keep just walking off before I can respond." Wyoming merely chuckled in response.

**(-o-)**

**TIME: 1230**

**DATE: XX/XX/XXXX**

**Location: Cafeteria**

Ruby sat down awkwardly next to York. Beside him stood Carolina, Washington and North, having apparently decided chairs were beneath them, and she felt like an outsider. No one had called her over, she had just sat down without being invited and she was beginning to regret her choice. Carolina looked over at her, still wearing her helmet and leaning back in her chair.

"What're you doing here?" Carolina asked, and Ruby was once again thrown off by her voice, and figured out why. It reminded her of Pyrrha. In fact, it sounded EXACTLY like Pyrrha's.

"I'm her guide." York said simply.

"Guide? Since when did we get guides?" Carolina asked.

"The Director requested it himself, saying she's a special case." York replied nonchalantly. Carolina snorted.

"I don't really see what's so special about her."

"You know, I'm sitting right here…" Ruby interjected. The two looked at her, and she backed down slightly from their intense gazes.

"Don't mind her." North whispered quietly in her ear. "She's like this with all new recruits."

"You realise I heard that, right?" Carolina said jokingly. He quickly backed off and stood at attention. She sighed. "I hate you."

"What? Why do you hate him for him showing you respect, as you're team leader?" Ruby asked. York face palmed, and Carolina shook her head, sighing.

"If he _were_ showing me respect, I wouldn't mind. North is quite possibly the only person to ever have lived, who can make a military salute look sarcastic and condescending without changing the actual salute."

"Sir, yes sir." North added helpfully.

The three went on bickering, and Washington tapper her lightly on the shoulder.

"I'm sorry for how I acted yesterday. It was childish of me to be like that just because I lost, and I want you to know there are no hard feelings for you replacing me, you earned your spot on the leader board." He said quietly.

"Thanks…" Ruby replied hesitantly, unsure of how to respond. Washington turned back to the others, and joined in their argument, most of which Ruby couldn't follow.

**(-o-)**

**TIME: 1359**

**DATE: XX/XX/XXXX**

**Location: unknown**

"**Director, our first three fragments have been harvested."**

"**Find all of them a match."**

"**All? That's ahead of schedule."**

"**Find them a match. I have a feeling they'll be needed soon."**

"**Yes, Director."**

**(-o-)**

**TIME: 1429**

**DATE: XX/XX/XXXX**

**Location: Cafeteria**

"Will Agent Washington please report to the Interview Room for debriefing immediately." F.I.L.I.S's voice came over the speakers.

Ruby looked around, and noticed Washington had just pulled up a chair beside Carolina and York, having been halfway through sitting down. He groaned.

"What now? Can't a guy have lunch in peace?" He murmured, storming off. "And why is it always 'immediately'? Why can't they ever give me some god damn warning! I mean, it's ridiculous! Do they just decide on everything a few seconds before they want it…" His voice trailed off as he continued to rant to himself, seemingly unaware he was speaking aloud.

Carolina and York looked at each other amusedly. "I thought he'd broken that habit."

"He's still a little tired from his fight with West." York said, chuckling. "When you're tired, old habits come back to bite you. You should know that better than anyone, Carolina."

Carolina averted her gaze sharply. "Watch your mouth, soldier!" She said, her tone full of embarrassment.

"What's that about?" Ruby asked, confused.

"Well, you see, when we first met, Ca…" York begun, only to be cut off by Carolina. She didn't even speak to him, she just glared at him from under her helmet. He whimpered in fear and practically wilted into his chair.

"That's what I thought." She said coldly, contempt filling her voice.

North chuckled. "C'mon, it _was _a pretty funny story! You should let him finish."

"Why would I-" Carolina stopped, turning slowly and quietly to York. "… You… TOLD HIM?!"

York turned and bolted, Carolina charging after him and easily catching up in a matter of seconds, tackling him to the ground and began beating him into the floor. He didn't even try to defend himself.

Ruby looked curiously at North. "You knew that would be her reaction, didn't you?"

"Yep."

"You're terrible to your friends."

"Actually I feel obliged to help. My disrespect to Carolina is how I say I care, and she would've found out sooner or later that York told me the story. Believe it or not, I did him a favour." He whispered quietly in her ear. "Although I recommend you don't go anywhere near their rooms tonight, or you might just find out what I mean."

"Ew…." Ruby replied, and North nodded.

"You wouldn't know it from the way they act, but those two are very mature and care for each other greatly. And also I didn't mean it like that you pervert." He said, shaking his head slightly.

Ruby shot him a confused look, which was beginning to feel embedded into her face with the frequency of which she used it. "How could that POSSIBLY have been interpreted a different way? It was poor phrasing on your part. Also, what the heck do you mean then?"

"I'm not at liberty to say. However it's nothing sexual. You just REALLY don't want to know, believe me."

"You know… You're a lot different to what I expected. Especially not after reading your profile." Ruby stated.

North chuckled. "Everyone is different with friends than they are with the rest of the world, or when they're working. Here, we're all just a biiiig family, but it's not like that on missions. You'll understand after your first, which from what I hear, should be fairly soon. Well anyway, I best be off."

North stood up and left, leaving Ruby alone at the table, and the only freelancer in the hall (Carolina had carried York to the infirmary). There were a few standard soldiers sitting and eating lunch, their identical armours still being worn, although they had their helmets off. Ruby finished her lunch awkwardly, mentally sighing at the loneliness and wondering if she had made the right choice.

Perhaps She should've stayed with her team… this mission was a lot different to what she had imagined. Most of the technology they were using shouldn't work and was incredibly advanced, yet their weapons were miles behind Ruby's Crescent Rose. Which she had been made to leave behind, she thought angrily.

She was snapped from her thoughts as dozens of the soldiers began abandoning their lunches and bolting off somewhere. Ruby looked after them with curiosity, hearing the end of an announcement by F.I.L.I.S. Whatever F.I.L.I.S had said must have riled them up.

Ruby jogged over to the soldiers. "What's going on? I missed the announcement."

"A new Agent just challenged Maine, Wyoming and York to a three-on-one fight!" The soldier said excitedly. "We're going to watch!" With that, the soldier turned and sprinted off after their friends.

"Hey, wait up!" Ruby said, interested. She tried to use her semblance, but found it strangely… suppressed, as if something were holding it down, and she tripped face first onto the ground. She heard snickers behind her, but got up, ignoring them and continuing absentmindedly after the soldier.

Why didn't her semblance work? She had spent a while training it, as she used to be fairly bad with it when under stress, which had been a problem *cough*Huntress*cough*. There should be no reason for it to just… fail like that.

Before she new it, she came across an intersection, with dozens if not hundreds of soldiers running into a large room. She was about to follow, when she saw North and Washington jogging I a different direction, and followed them to a similar, although much less crowded room. Only Carolina, North, South, Wash and one unfamiliar freelancer wearing brown armour, with a helmet that looked like a gas mask. While she was distracted, she noticed F.I.L.I.S announce the round beginning.

She ran quickly over to one of the glass panels, just in time to see a Freelancer in black armour hit York and two others with one of the electrified sticks she had used in her own match, sending them flying.

Carolina started pacing behind them. "What's going on down there? There's no training session on the schedule."

"It's impromptu." South replied, and Ruby was glad to notice she had calmed down. Or at least was interested enough to be distracted.

"Who the hell is that?" Carolina asked.

"Some new recruit."

"Another one already?" Carolina replied sarcastically.

Ruby continued watching, only for the Agent in black to strike rapidly and knock them down.

"Wow, he sure doesn't move like he's a recruit." Washington added, sounding impressed.

"Why do you assume it's a guy? _She's_ a _girl_." South answered jokingly.

"Oh. I…I didn't really mean that he… I mean it… I mean _her_…I…"

North and South both laughed.

"Right."

"Sorry."

"Just shut up."

"Both of you, can it." Carolina interjected, still pacing.

"Sounds like someone is a little bit concerned about their position." South joked awkwardly.

"Hey South, pay attention. You might actually learn something if you stop running your mouth for a minute."

Ouch… that was harsh. Ruby saw South turn her head away, clearly shaking to hold back some offensive response.

Ruby looked back down to the fight, only to see the Agent in black choking the Agent in grey with their… Pugil stick, Ruby recalled. York and the Agent in white were approaching, so Black dropped Grey, swinging around and hitting White in the face, turning and duelling York into the ground, quickly followed by white, before breaking her stick in half in white's face.

To Ruby's surprise, white got back up and wobbled a bit before collapsing. Ruby was impressed, she had seen how strong those blows were, and it was a testament to amazing strength to get up from something like that, even if only briefly. Black walked away, chucking their broken stick to the ground.

"Round One: over. Pugil stick training, complete. Point awarded to Texas. The current score is: Team One: 0. Texas: 1." F.I.L.I.S announced.

"Texas, huh?" Washington asked.

"I thought that name was reserved." Carolina added.

Ruby looked over to the scoreboard, which had four names: Texas, Maine, Wyoming and York. So Maine and Wyoming were the other two… good to know, Ruby thought."

"Nice moves." Washington replied, slightly incredulous.

"Could be luck. We'll see." Carolina replied.

"Beginning hand-to-hand combat. Round Two begin in five, four, three, two, one. Round begin." F.I.L.I.S announced.

York turned and said something to his team, who had all assumed fighting stances. In response, white ran forward, only to be hit in the face by Texas and go down.

"Wow, Maine really doesn't like York, does he." Washington asked sarcastically.

Then grey ran forward to meet a similar fate, and Ruby sighed. She saw York seemingly talk to himself, only for Texas to interrupt him with a punch in the gut, kicking grey into the ground as he stood up. White… no, Maine, judging from Washington's comment, Ruby decided, ran at Texas and started fighting her, only to be slammed into the ground.

"Wow!" Washington declared.  
>"Okay, that was pretty impressive." North agreed.<p>

The three stood up and York started talking to them, only for both of them to sprint forward out of formation, basically lining up.

Ruby sighed. "Do these guys never learn? That clearly isn't going to work! They need to work together!"

She saw York shake his head and run in after them, and she watched in dismay as grey… who would be Wyoming if white was Maine, right? Got hit in the face, and fell down, York fighting Texas quickly only to join him, and Maine to be the last to fall, all three standing up and attacking from all directions. Apparently Texas didn't care, because she nimbly countered and avoided all their blows, even using one of Maine's punches against Wyoming, finishing the fight by kicking York in the face.

"Round over. Point Texas. Hand-to-hand combat complete. Now resetting the floor for Lockdown Paint Scenario."

Pillars emerged from the floor, as the Freelancers, including Ruby, collectively groaned.

"Ugh. I hate that paint." Wash whined.

"Tell me about it. Stings like a bitch." South continued.

"Turns your armour hard as a rock." North finished.

"I wouldn't know." Carolina bragged. The four Freelancers, brown watching the floor, all turned to her.

"It's not bad if you don't let it hit you." She elaborated jokingly.

"Thanks, I'll try to remember that." Washington replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Round Three in five… four… three… two… one. Round begin!"

Ruby turned back to the fight, where Team One were ducked behind pillars. Maine leapt out and sprinted recklessly, only for Texas to shoot him repeatedly in the face. Ruby sighed, watching Wyoming do the same. Only York seemed to have any grasp of tactics, but Texas was clearly an overall better fighter than he was, beating him each time. As this happened again and again, until Texas was six-nil, Ruby became more and more exasperated.

Finally, Maine and Wyoming stayed ducked in cover with York, and seemed to be listening to his instructions, and Ruby felt relieved. Until all three leapt around in an impressive display of coordination, only to be hit by Texas, who had fired off three precise shots with inhuman accuracy in under half a second.

Ruby frowned. She had meant it when she though 'inhuman'. Something was off with Texas.

The next round started, with Texas sneaking onto a pillar above the three, leaping down gracefully and taking all three out. To their credit, both Maine and York had disarmed Texas, and Ruby thought Texas shooting York in the crotch a few dozen times was overkill, whilst Wyoming had cowered behind a corner and been useless.

Ruby sighed yet again, averting her gaze as the three reloaded.

"After eight rounds, the score is now zero-eight, advantage Texas." F.I.L.I.S announced.

"Yeah, advantage is the right word." Ruby scoffed sarcastically.

"Round Nine begins in five, four, three, two, one. Round begin."

Immediately, Wyoming and Maine started firing blind into the pillars, and instead of the familiar paint appearing, holes were created as bullets tore through the cement.

"What?! Are they using live rounds on the training floor?" Washington demanded, and Ruby paled, realising the implications of that sentence.

"Looks like it." South replied.

"That's against protocol, they're gonna kill her!"

"Probably." Brown added, speaking for the first time.

"Someone should get the Director!" Washington continued, beginning to walk off.

Brown scoffed. "The Director? Who do you think gave them the ammo?"

"Watch your mouth C.T." Carolina added quickly, and Ruby frowned at brown… no, C.T's insubordination.

Ruby turned back to the fight, seeing York trying to help Texas, who appeared to be unaware of the fact as she was beating him up anyway. Texas shot Maine's hand, sticking it to one of he pillars, only for Wyoming to start firing at her, and Ruby saw a bullet graze her shoulder, and some sparking appeared.

Wait, sparking? Ruby was distracted from this thought process as Texas stole York's pistol and opened fire on Wyoming, before slamming his head into a pillar and leaving it there. She walked over to York, only for Maine to break free of the paint, another testament to his amazing strength.

Maine ran at the two, punching the pillar Wyoming was in and shattering it, which hit York and knocked him over. Texas shot him a few times and kicked him back. Maine flicked something in his hand, and threw a small ball… wait, was that a grenade? Ruby thought, panicked. Texas turned and shot York repeatedly with the paint, freezing his armour and preventing him from leaving.

It went off, sending York's body flying, although judging from the groan he was still alive, and Ruby realised Texas had saved his life, as the paint had taken most of the damage.

"Shit!" North sword.

"Damn it! Those maniacs!" Washington added.

"What the fuck are they doing?!" North continued, and all three started running down to help York.

Carolina looked like she was about to, only to turn at the last second and tap a hologram. "F.I.L.I.S we need a medical team on the training floor, stat!"

"Medical team on route. Please remain calm." F.I.L.I.S replied, and Ruby joined C.T and Carolina in running down to the floor.

"York? York!" Carolina cried desperately as they neared.


	4. Missing out on the Action

**All right! Sorry about the weeks of delay, but the updates are back to normal. Thank you very much for your patience and continued support. Now, onto the story. This chapter goes to the end of episode 16, right before the Highway fight (Spiral).**

**(-o-)**

**TIME: 1143**

**DATE: XX/XX/XXXX**

**Location: Armoury**

Ruby sighed and stood up, leaving the hospital area where York had been for the last few mind-numbingly uneventful days after he had his eye blown out by the grenade. She had been almost constantly been thinking about Texas since then, heavily confused by the sparking. In the end, she had come to the conclusion that Texas was probably an A.I, like Penny, and mentally slapped herself for not thinking of it sooner as it made a lot of sense.

But as to York's condition, the doctors said he would likely be out of commission for at least another week… and while she liked York, Ruby was getting sick of sitting beside him with no one but Carolina for company. Apparently others had been visiting, but she had the misfortune of not knowing when they were, and being stuck in a room with a distressed Carolina wasn't very pleasant.

It was nearly midday, so she wandered back to the cafeteria. She had started to get a strong idea of the routes to take to navigate, and now only got lost very occasionally, which she was grateful for. Over the last few days, she hadn't really bonded with any of the other Freelancers except Carolina, and even then the 'bonding' just meant they no longer seemed to be on bad terms. She always felt awkward trying to bring up conversation in a hospital.

The only other Freelancer she had liked was North, but he was usually busy and she rarely saw him around. So for the last few days she had been feeling more and more lonely, and had spent most of the time not spent visiting York in the armoury, studying the weapons held there. She had made two discoveries. The weapons definitely used gunpowder to fire, despite how inefficient the chemical was, and had dozens of design flaws that limited efficiency.

Today, she decided, she would mess around with some spare parts to try and remove said flaws, taking one of the dozens of sniper rifles to a nearby bench, where she had disassembled a few guns to use as parts. She lay the sniper out and quickly disassembled it, and began the long process of studying it for flaws to fix. Annoyingly, they varied from gun to gun, despite having been made on a production line. How the makers had managed that, Ruby had no idea.

"Attention." F.I.L.I.S's voice came from the radio. "May Agents North Dakota, Florida, Wyoming, Maine, Carolina, Connecticut and Washington please report to the Interview Room immediately for debriefing. That will be all."

**(-o-)**

**TIME: 1029**

**DATE: XX/XX/XXXX**

**Location: ?**

"What the hell do you mean we can't implant yet!" The Director asked angrily.

"Sir, without the Sarcophagus we will be unable to produce any more fragments. If we implant now, several of our best Agents will be out of commission for the retrieval of the Sarcophagus." The counsellor replied calmly.

"Why would we not be able to make more?"

"We were incredibly lucky to have produced three as it is, and any further attempts would likely damage the Alpha, or at the very least subject it to torment. As you know, one has already been deployed, but to increase efficiency the other two will have to wait."

The Director sighed. "Very well. Let's arrange a briefing for our best. What do you have so far about the Sarcophagus?"

**(-o-)**

**TIME: 1544**

**DATE: XX/XX/XXXX**

**Location: Armoury**

"I thought I might find you here." A voice from behind her said, startling Ruby, who dropped the piece she had been working on. Luckily it remained unharmed. She had been nearly finished her project, so all of her attention had been on that last piece, which had taken at least half of her time to create and was only half done. She spun around, to reveal it was the Director and the Counsellor. She quickly came to attention.

"At ease," The Director said. "As you may have deduced, a very important mission for the Project is going to be underway very shortly, in fact our team leaves tomorrow. That is why I am here, to let you know that you will be joining them."

"Then why didn't you just call me to the briefing, sir?" Ruby asked.

"Because you will not be joining with the main team. We have a very special mission for you, due to your unique skillset, of which your former teacher has already informed us. You will be as a sniper for the main team," the Counsellor said. He handed her a small folder. "Inside is all the information you will need of the mission, as well as a map to the Hangar, where you are expected to report at 0600 tomorrow."

"Thank you, sir." She replied.

"Good luck Agent, I hope you do not disappoint," The Director said as he left.

Ruby quickly skimmed the folder, which explained her mission was to aid team B in securing the briefcase, without letting them know she was there. What did that even mean? What briefcase? Although she guessed team B wouldn't be too hard to identify, as the briefing said there were only two teams.

Apparently though, if she deemed it necessary she was to step in and let them know she was there to capture it, and after the briefcase was secured she was to aid team A should they need it. Ruby shook her head, placing the map of the building on top and shutting the folder, turning back to her project. It said to bring a sniper rifle as well as any one sidearm, so she should probably finish hers. A standard pistol would do for the sidearm, she guessed. They didn't have any scythes.

**(-o-)**

**TIME: 0600**

**DATE: XX/XX/XXXX**

**Location: Mother of Invention, Hangar C**

Ruby walked up to the helicopter-esque thingy that rested in front of her, boarding by the ramp that was currently outstretched. The inside was empty, although as soon as she stepped in the ramp slid shut, indicating she was the only one this helicopter was transporting, which made sense if her presence was meant to be a secret.

"Allright, hello!" Called a voice, which seemed to come from the front of the vehicle. "You ready for take off?"

"Umm… yes?" Ruby called out. The Helicopter started to lift up, and Ruby was surprised. Why would a helicopter be inside a building if it was being used? What use exactly would it be? She was snapped from her thoughts when the helicopter accelerated rapidly, knocking her over into the ramp, which had luckily closed. She saw there was a window-like gap, and upon looking out of it was amazed to see space.

She was also very confused. If she was seeing space that meant she was either burrowing into the ground, or traveling in space. Space travel didn't exist yet, although there were rumours it would soon.

So Ruby was amazed to see behind her the huge spaceship, its Hangar closing behind them. Ruby had been in space for nearly a month without noticing. She felt a spark of annoyance that Ozpin hadn't told her about this, but realised that she probably wouldn't have believed him if he had.

She sighed, making her way over to one of the seats cautiously, barely maintaining her balance.

**(-o-) **

**TIME: 0703**

**DATE: XX/XX/XXXX**

**Location: Unknown City**

The ramp slide open, despite the Helicopter still hovering in mid-air.

"Um… why are we parking?" Ruby called out.

"This is your stop. Don't worry, your armour will take the brunt of the damage. We aren't even that high." The pilot responded.

Ruby looked down and the skyscraper she was above. Several hundred metres above.

"Are you sure this is safe?"

"Not at all! Now jump or I'll knock you off!" The pilot replied. Ruby took a deep breath to calm her nerves. The Director didn't want her dead, right? If he had she would be. Meaning it must be safe. She clung onto that knowledge, running at the edge and jumping.

She didn't feel the wind at all, quickly spreading out her arms and legs to slow her fall as the roof hurtled towards her. She landed feet first on the building, feeling a jar run up her legs, but nothing else.

She hesitantly opened her eyes to make sure she wasn't dead, before shaking a bit to help the adrenalin wear off.

Suddenly there was a soft ping, and her H.U.D altered, showing a map with four green dots and three larger, rapidly approaching red dots. There was also a steadily moving blue arrow, going away from the green dots.

Ruby quickly turned to the direction the dots were in, and pulled up her sniper scope, zooming in as much as she could. She immediately understood why she had been dropped on this building, there were no other tall buildings nearby and she had a clear view and small figure. She zoomed in further, immediately glad she had improved the scope, as the figures were still tiny, although she could identify three of them as North, C.T and Wyoming. Nearby dozens of police cars were lined up, shooting at them.

Ruby cursed. What was the point in her being sent on this mission, when she had clearly arrived hours later than everyone else? Ruby turned her scope to the blue arrow, revealing it to be a seemingly civilian car, with the driver fiddling with something.

Ignoring that, Ruby turned back to the other Agents, who were pinned down and had no way of fighting back. She quickly took aim at one of the police cars, not wanting to kill a fellow human no matter the circumstance, and aimed for where she knew the engine would be situated. She adjusted the crosshairs for distance, and pulled the trigger.

Ruby was immediately amazed by the quality of the rifle she was holding, as the bullet was completely unaffected by wind, and hit EXACTLY where she wanted it too. The car blew up, with police officers scattering in surprise. She quickly fired off three more shots and three more cars, with similar results, and smirked in satisfaction as the Helicopter she had been in swooped down, all of the Freelancers boarding quickly.

"Team B is down," came a voice over her radio. It was the helicopter pilot. "Assist team A in taking the briefcase."

"Got it," Ruby replied, as her H.U.D updated to display team A. The blue arrow was heading directly towards them, and one of them moved. The blue arrow stopped completely, before moving with the green dot that was one of her allies back to the other two. "Glad they're making progress," Ruby muttered to herself.

She turned her scope towards them, and was immediately able to tell she was too far away to be of use. She looked around, seeing another skyscraper between her and them, although this one drastically lower, and she had an idea.

**(-o-) **

**TIME: 0703**

**DATE: XX/XX/XXXX**

**Location: Unknown City**

"OWW!" Ruby cried out as she made the fifth jump. She was now standing on a road, and her legs were in a LOT of pain. Apparently, jumping repeatedly from hundred meter heights was a bad idea. She groaned and gritted her teeth. At least she had made it.

She checked her H.U.D, and was grateful to see team A and the blue dot headed right towards her, although less so to see the dozens of red dots after them.

Then she remembered that was a problem. They weren't supposed to know she was here. Ruby panicked, looking around for some place to hide, before remembering something the Director had told her about her armour. She didn't remember the exact wording, but he had said it had 'active camouflage'.

She also remembered there was a button on her left forearm, decidedly out of place, that until now had confused her. She pressed the button, and a series of fairly basic mathematic equations appeared on her H.U.D, which she quickly mentally solved, without even meaning to, as it was a waste of time. When she looked down again, she was see-through.

Ruby turned to where team A was, only for them to hurtle past her in a car of some kind, causing her to leap back in fright. Three helicopters flew after, each marked as red on her H.U.D. So her enemies. Ruby sighed and started lining up the shot.


	5. Spiral(ing out of control)

**Important:**

**Okay, as a note I to anyone who may not have noticed, I replaced chapter four with an actual chapter. While it may not be a very good one in my opinion, it is there. So if you haven't read that, I advise you do so.**

**Secondly, while it may at first appear that there are O.C's in this story, this is **_**NOT**_** true. You will understand in time. **

**Finally, Ruby is not the only person who will appear in the RvB universe, so a quick poll, ****answer in reviews****: ****Ren, Jaune, or Pyrrha?**** It will change the outcome of the story, choose wisely. Poll closed **_**AFTER**_** I release chapter 7. Majority wins.**

**Also, if you are wondering why Nora wasn't included in the poll, you will see… unless you fail your perception test, which would be kind of embarrassing. You spent a **_**long**_** time working on your perception score, after all. **

**Now, enough of that, to the chapter!**

**(-o-)**

**TIME: 0712**

**DATE: XX/XX/XXXX**

**Location: Unknown City**

Ruby continued to take aim, knowing that if she missed the shot, she wouldn't get a chance for another. The helicopters were flying too quickly. She took the shot, shooting a pilot she couldn't see through the cockpit, and felt a stab of guilt when she saw her shot had been accurate.

_She had just killed someone…_

The helicopter started spinning out of control, and fell off the freeway. Before it left, however, a single figure in a strange black-ish armour jumped out, and with a burst of light started floating after their allies. Huh, a jetpack. Ruby noticed, despite herself.

_She would never know their name…_

She took aim quickly, her body seemingly on autopilot, at the figure's head. At the last second, as she pulled the trigger, she realised what she was about to do and adjusted her aim minutely. The bullet hit the high-speed target in the shoulder pad, glancing off of it into the jetpack which promptly exploded. The figure crashed face, no, visor first and skidding across the ground before coming to a halt, unconscious.

_Did they have a family? People that cared for them?_

Ruby felt a tear begin streaking down her eye, and ignored it stubbornly, focusing intently on the mission. The two other helicopters were out of sight. She quickly disabled her active camouflage, deciding to conserve power, and jumped up, climbing onto a passing truck. She sat on the roof, above the unsuspecting driven. Her body felt numb.

_They weren't even taking part in the fight… they were just a pilot._

Ahead she caught a glimpse of the action, where a soldier in a similar black-ish armour was pinning Maine down to the warthog with their foot, with a white briefcase on their back. York, who she could see was driving, slammed the brakes, and the soldier (who she noticed didn't have any armour on their arms, aside from near the hands… weird.) was flung forward off the car, flailing wildly, only to be intercepted by Carolina, who was waiting on the truck in front of them. She grabbed the briefcase, before taking cover as a third soldier started shooting, forcing her to cower behind a barrel.

Another truck got in the way, and by the time it had moved, Maine and Carolina were standing back to back against the two unnamed soldiers. She zoomed in on her scope, knowing she wouldn't be able to get off a shot at this speed or with allies close by, but just to watch.

_How can people do this to each other? What's the point?_

Ruby was snapped out of her daze as a sudden burst of adrenalin pumped through her. She saw in her scope Maine starting to fire a monstrous weapon that from where she was, resembled a grenade launcher. However, at the last second one of the other soldiers shot him with a pistol, causing his aim to go off and hit one of the trucks tires. The four started flailing simultaneously, trying to keep their balance as the truck swerved, only for it to crash.

One of the soldiers in black was immediately flung off the highway, Maine following close behind as another truck ran into him. Ouch… Ruby would've thought him dead if she didn't see him still spinning his arms and holding his gun.

Carolina and the final soldier somehow managed to board vehicles, Carolina on York's Warthog, the soldier on the remaining helicopter. Huh… Ruby wondered what happened to the other one.

The truck she was on began to slide to a halt, and she saw why. Ahead, after the helicopter and an out-of-place motorcycle passed through into a building, doors started sliding shut. A few cars crashed. Carolina and York, it seemed, had no intent of stopping, with York accelerating to an even faster speed, only to jump out and tumble onto the road.

Ruby quickly realised that now York was relatively safe, if she didn't move he would see her. She jumped off the roof of the truck, walked to the side of the road and reactivated her Active Camouflage, once again several basic equations appearing on her visor. Maybe the questions were how the device worked or something like that? Ruby had no idea how this technology, which was basically recreating Semblances, was even possible, let alone how it worked.

She saw York look over to where she was, but his eyes grazed over her as if she wasn't there. He was only a few meters away, so she heard his comment as he stood up.

"Man, I've got to quit jumping off stuff today." He said, shaking his head slightly. Ruby wondered what that was about. To her surprise, a helicopter landed next to him, one of the ones Ruby herself had been on earlier, and flew off with him. She saw a brief flash of at least a half dozen Freelancers, including Maine, on board. It must be collecting downed Agents, she reasoned.

Realising there was nothing to do, she waited for the helicopter to be out of sight before turning off her camo, which in turn allowed her to use her motion sensor. A green dot, which must be Carolina, was pursuing a red dot with a blue arrow by it, with enormous speed, only for the two to completely stop. The red dot flew away, and the blue dot seemingly started to move of its own accord. Ruby sighed… none of it made sense.

The green dot boarded a larger green dot, which Ruby realised was probably the helicopter she had seen earlier. It flew off into the distance, and she collapsed to the ground, feeling her adrenalin from the explosions fade rapidly, once again feeling a stab of guilt at committing murder.

**(-o-)**

**TIME: 0903**

**DATE: XX/XX/XXXX**

**Location: Pelican, en-route to the Mother of Invention**

After what had felt like a few minutes of waiting, but Ruby was surprised to find was actually nearly an hour, a helicopter had picked her up and started heading home. The ride was… well, uneventful wasn't really the right word. Ruby was sitting in the same helicopter that had picked up Texas, who had the white briefcase in her hand. Huh… so that was what people had been murdering each other for. What a waste.

The tension was thick enough to be cut with a knife, as the two both awkwardly tried to conceal their stares at the other. Neither knew the other had been on the mission, and both had thought they were the only Special Forces being sent. The pilot also had nothing to say on the matter, so the helicopter was silent, apart from the sounds of machinery.

The helicopter quickly arrived back on board the Mother of Invention, Ruby keeping her feelings of amazement at space travel under wraps this time. She usually didn't have trouble embarrassing herself… no need to do so if she could avoid it. This kind of thing was probably normal for everyone else. The ship landed, and as soon as the ramp was lower Texas was gone, and Ruby couldn't see her anywhere.

She was, to say the least, surprised to see both the Director and the Counsellor waiting for her.

"Welcome back, Agent West Virginia," The Director stated. "Come with me." The Director started leading her off down dozens of deserted halls, and Ruby was at a loss for words. Why was the Director taking such personal interest in her? Enough for him to take a break from his work to walk to her directly?

Before she knew it, she was in a blank, closed off room with several soldiers in… medic-esque armour walking around frantically. There was a large, glass window on one wall, and the two stepped out of the room, standing behind it.

"You are probably confused as to why we brought you here. But first, allow me to congratulate you on your outstanding performance on todays mission. Judging from my reports, you demonstrated nearly inhuman accuracy, and it is likely that the mission would have failed without you. As such, you will be receiving a suitable reward."

Ruby swallowed awkwardly. She knew she was a good shot, but the work in this case was 99% the rifle. The reason she had taken so long to modify it, was to make it so the bullet always hit exactly where the crosshairs were, all she had needed to do was take into account the distance, which made nearly no difference. She had been up close to the moving targets, so there had been no need. But still, she didn't correct him.

"You will be receiving one of our experimental A.I fragments, which will now be implanted into you. It will aid you greatly in combat, and will allow the use of your equipment safely, and to its fullest potential."

Once again, Ruby mentally bit her tongue to stop herself interjecting.

"However, it is your duty to learn to care for the A.I, as it will be your constant companion from here on out. Counsellor, please prep her for surgery."

With that, the Director left, and the Counsellor started touching buttons on his ever present scroll… or whatever it was meant to be. Ruby didn't really get this technology.

A few mechanical arms started descending towards her, and removed her helmet gently. The turned her over slowly, and she felt a sharp jab of pain as, only for it to fade into numbness. Huh, some kind of painkiller. Ruby tried to move herself, only to be alarmed as she found she couldn't, which alarmed her, only to quickly calm down. It made sense, they couldn't have her jerking during surgery.

She felt herself begin to float, and the voices around her were talking, but they were muffled and impossible to understand. Suddenly, a spike a pain jabbed into the back of her neck, and she barely stopped herself from screaming in pain. The feeling continued in a slight circular pattern… almost as if they were… _drilling_ something into her. The thought was mentally disturbing and sent shivers down her spine, so she closed her eyes and focused on something else. Anything else.

Suddenly, the pain stopped and became a dull ache. She felt something pressed into where the pain had been, hard, and barely stopped a yelp. The pain quickly faded, although a slight constant ache kept the memory fresh. She felt herself beginning to stop floating, and gradually started being able to move again. She flexed her fingers, wiggled her toes, as the feeling grew stronger until she was able to move her entire arm, only to feel another needle enter her, and she blacked out.

**(-o-)**

**TIME: 1106**

**DATE: XX/XX/XXXX**

**Location: Mother of Invention**

"Sir, are you sure she is the… right… person for Tau? Their personalities would put them on edge with each other."

"Quite the contrary, Counsellor. What better to alleviate fear than a kind and warm heart. You saw how she reacted to her first kill. Perhaps Tau will help alleviate that burden from her."

"But sir, doing so might cause severe ment-"

"I am aware of the risks, Counsellor. She can take it, or do you not think she is strong enough?"

The Counsellor hesitated slightly. "You are right sir. I just cannot help but worry."

"Don't worry, that will pass. It is likely because she is so innocent, and none of the other Agents are. You are unaccustomed to innocent people, aren't you?"

"Indeed. It has been almost a decade since I last had to deal with one."

"That's called being part of the army."

The two stopped their discussion as they saw a green glow begin to form. He quickly signalled the two medics who were standing by in the room.

"Keep it in its case, and don't let it touch anything else," the Counsellor added.

"Hello there. Do you know your name?" The Director asked it.

"I am confused."

"Do not be concerned. That is a completely natural reaction given your state," the Counsellor replied.

"My state… was I injured?"

"No. Do you feel as though you have been injured?"

"Counsellor please. Do not be concerned. You are fine. You're safe. Once again, do you know your name?"

"Yes. I know my name. My name is Alpha."

"No, your name is not Alpha. You are mistaken."

"I am sorry, I am confused."

"Do not be concerned," the Counsellor continued. "That is perfectly normal given your state. Would you like to know your name?"

"Yes please, I would like to know my name. I feel very confused."

"Your name is Delta," the Director replied. "That is your name."

"Delta?" Delta asked.

"Yes," the Counsellor confirmed. "You are very wise, Delta. It is very nice to meet you."

"I think I remember you."

"No, you have never met us before. You did not exist before today. Today is your birthday. Today, is a great day."

"Do you know your name?" The Director asked.

"My name is Delta."

"That is correct."

"Delta, this is the Director. He is going to take good care of you."

"I am glad to hear that. I am very confused."

"Don't worry Delta, that will not last long. And when you feel better, we are going to do incredible things together, you and I. Incredible things."

**(-o-)**

**So, yeah. Early update is Early.**


	6. Breaking point

**Hello again! A new chapter is, obviously, up. Not much happens in this chapter, but it is still important. Yeah, I'm really bad at Author's notes. But yeah, this chapter has the most time skips, due to Ruby spending most of it barely conscious :D. Also, the poll is currently tied. I mention that because I find it amusing.**

* * *

><p><strong>TIME: 0009<strong>

**DATE: XX/XX/XXXX**

**Location: Mother of Invention, Recovery Room**

When Ruby woke, her senses were still really fuzzy. That, or the world was meant to be white, blurry and empty. And dark. Did she mention dark? Well it was pitch black. She groaned slightly, and tried to sit up, only to find she was unable to move. Oh well, she didn't really care, she wouldn't be able to do much in her state.

_What if she was trapped_? She suddenly though, and she mentally laughed. No, if Project Freelancer wanted her trapped, she would be. They had injected her with… something. What was it again? Ruby couldn't for the life of her remember. She cracked open her eyes slightly, finding herself staring up at a blank space on the ceiling. Well… that accomplished nothing. She saw a clock in her peripheral vision, but couldn't move enough to see it clearly.

She was so tired. So unbelievably tired. So she lay down, and fell back asleep.

* * *

><p><strong>TIME: 1944<strong>

**DATE: XX/XX/XXXX**

**Location: Recovery Room**

Ruby groaned again in annoyance, having woken up once more. There were voices around her, so many voices… why couldn't the voices just stop? She wanted to sleep. Didn't they get that? She sighed lightly, opening her eyes again. This time, she found she was able to move her head slightly, although the room didn't seem to be any different. So where had the voices come from?

_Here… _HE_r_**E**_**… here…**_ The voices seemingly replied. Ruby mentally rolled her eyes. Glad that was cleared up, she thought to herself.

* * *

><p><strong>TIME: 1807<strong>

**DATE: XX/XX/XXXX**

**Location: Recovery Room**

Ruby woke once more, but this time fully alert. She twitched her fingers slightly, and was glad to see they moved without trouble. Whatever had been used to stop her moving had thankfully worn off, and her mind was much clearer now. She opened her eyes and squinted, immediately blinded by the light, so she shielded her eyes with her right arm.

"…lcome back to the land of the living!" A voice said from her left. She turned in its direction, blinking rapidly to try and get rid of the blurriness. Beside her sat a medical officer.

She groaned in response and tried to sit up, which was a much harder task than she had first thought it would be.

"Woah, woah! Easy!" The medic replied. "There's no rush. You've only been in here about a week, the next few minutes won't really matter."

"A… we…eeek?" Ruby asked. Her throat was sore, really sore

"Yep!" The medic proclaimed excitedly. "I'm impressed you're up so early, to be honest. Apparently the operation had a bit of a hitch, with a few drill bits breaking off on your exposed skin. It was like there was some kind of force field blocking them, but that meant bigger drill bits, and more sedatives. We expected you to be out for at least another week, possibly up to a month. You're just lucky I happened to be walking by at the time, when your vitals started increasing."

Ruby frowned. Her aura hadn't been working, so… did that mean it was the armour supressing it? That would make sense, but overall it wouldn't change much. Her armour did roughly the same things her aura did, except instead of healing her it made her invisible. Still, at least that meant her aura was still somewhat accessible, she just had to bare her skin.

"What is aura?" A voice asked. Ruby would've jumped in shock had she not been sitting down, as she noticed the voice came from _inside her head._

"U-um, who said that?" Ruby asked.

"Who said what?" The medic asked. In response, a see-through hologram-like thingy appeared, hovering at head level, slightly to Ruby's left.

"That was me." The voice said. This time, it was even more disorienting, as Ruby could hear it originate from her mind, as well as being spoken.

Ruby looked at the… thing. It was see-through, and a dull bronze, looking almost robot-like.

"H-hey! I-I am _not_ a robot!" The voice replied. "Oh… s-sorry!" It continued, seemingly upset it had been so forward.

"Don't worry about it?" Ruby stated.

"Th-thank you." The voice stuttered.

"That's you're A.I, Agent West." The medic added.

"A.I… What's the-" Ruby started, only to be cut of.

"Artificial intelligence." The medic replied, sighing. Clearly this question was asked a lot.

"Thanks." Ruby answered sheepishly.

"So, you two probably want some time alone, so I'll just go inform the Director you're awake."

"Thank you." Ruby replied, as the medic walked off. She turned to the A.I. "So hey, little guys, what's your name."

"Tau." It responded quietly.

"What's the matter? You don't need to be shy, we're friends now."

"F-friends?" Tau asked cautiously.

"Of course! We are going to be partners now."

"So… what was this… aura thing you were talking about, if you don't mind me asking."

"Um, well, I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone about that."

"U-um, but I think if-"

Ruby had a thought. If it was a computer program, that probably meant it took orders. She didn't like bossing it around, but it was probably for the best. "Direct override. Command: Acknowledge last directive."

"Acknowledged." A set of footsteps started approaching, and Tau flickered and vanished.

Ruby looked to the footsteps, as the Director himself walked through the door. Ruby tried to stand up, but couldn't, as her legs still weren't functioning properly.

"Director, sir!" She said respectfully, saluting.

"At ease. How are you feeling, soldier?"

"Umm… fine, just can't really move much."

"Are you feeling any side effects from the procedure?"

"No I feel pretty much the same. It's weird having a voice in your head though. I'll adjust fairly quickly though, Tau is pretty quiet."

"Good to hear it. How long do you expect until you are back in action?"

Ruby flexed her legs slightly, every second more and more feeling returning across her body, and she stood up slowly. "A few days, I guess." She replied honestly.

"Good to hear it." The Director finished, walking out, as a medic walked in.

"Good news! You're free to go as soon as you feel you're ready. I'd advise returning to your room for tonight, the beds here aren't very comfortable."

"Thank you." Ruby said, walking down the familiar corridors to the mess hall. She was _starving._

* * *

><p><strong>TIME: 0600<strong>

**DATE: XX/XX/XXXX**

**Location: Barracks, Room 107**

Ruby sighed in boredom, rolling over. She had recovered fully weeks ago, just as every single Freelancer she knew was sent on a mission, leaving her bored witless. The armoury had gotten boring after a few further weeks of tinkering, due to how basic the weapons in there were. There was no one to spar against, and everyone who was still present was always busy with something or another.

Well, everyone except Texas, who she had sparred a few times. But the two had both gotten bored because the matches were so one sided, with Ruby constantly being pummelled into the ground. She had grown so reliant on her aura and Semblance, that having them yanked away really hindered her close combat, and Texas had inhuman accuracy with the pistols in other rounds.

Tau had been fun to talk to, even if they were a bit quiet, and in a state of constant nervousness. A few of the other, non-Freelancers had tried to talk to it, but it would always just log off, and even with Ruby it would hardly speak.

Ruby missed her friends, they would always have some antic to get up to that would distract her, or some problem to be solved. They were the type of person who, when you were around, there was never a dull moment. The other Freelancers were the opposite, and spent the majority of their time being 'professional', which was a polite way of saying boring as a rock.

North and York had been okay, but the others all seemed annoyed by her presence, and just went about their daily routine. It isn't that she regretted coming on her mission, it's just that she wished she was still able to see her friends. Project Freelancer was a science organisation dedicated to the protection of humanity, after all, so Ruby was just glad she could help.

"May the following Agents please report to the debriefing room," F.I.L.I.S's voice came over the speaker. "West Virginia." At that, F.I.L.I.S stopped, and Ruby chuckled slightly. That wasn't really 'Agents', was it. Ruby leapt to her feet. Finally something to _do_! She was already in her armour, having woken up early. Far earlier than she would've liked, actually, which had become an unfortunate habit of hers.

Tau was an early waker. And when you had two voices in your brain, if one was awake the other would be soon. Besides, even without that… there were the nightmares.

Ruby shook her head, walking out of her room. No point dwelling on the past, she had no choice. Besides, it isn't like killing people was going to be a habit of hers.

* * *

><p><strong>TIME: 0617<strong>

**DATE: XX/XX/XXXX**

**Location: Debriefing Room**

Ruby stared at the Director blankly. The Director looked back at her with curiosity.

"Agent West Virginia?" The Counsellor asked, waving a hand in front of her face, but Ruby didn't react. "Agent West Virginia, are you listening?"

Ruby's throat was dry, and her body was numb. She felt glad she was wearing a helmet, or the two may have seen the tears beginning to streak down her cheek.

"Y-you… you want me…to a-assassinate someone…"

"Yes. Your target is responsible for the deaths of thousands of civilians, but is also a member of another military organisation. You are the only Agent who would not be immediately recognised, that has the skillset and accuracy to take them down unnoticed." The Director replied.

'_He's lying.'_ Tau replied in her head.

'_About the civilians or me being the only Agent?' _Ruby asked.

'_I am not sure._'

"V… v-very w-well."

"If you do not feel comfortable taking this mission, you do not have to." The Counsellor added.

'_He's ly-'_

'_I know.' _Ruby cut Tau off. She was experienced enough to recognise a test when she saw one… if she didn't take this mission, then she would likely never receive another one, and would lose their trust. Meaning her overall mission, to help the project, would be a failure. _She_ would be a failure. Ozpin had trusted this to her, and for now she would just have to take his word that the Project had good intentions.

Ruby steeled her resolved. "I will take the mission."

"Very well. Counsellor, give her the mission briefing."

* * *

><p><strong>TIME: 1500<strong>

**DATE: XX/XX/XXXX**

**Location: Locker room**

Ruby sat alone on a bench, hunched over with her helmet on, weeping silently. Her vision was nearly completely obscured, and all of her energy had left her, so she couldn't move even if she wanted too. The mission had been a success, and she had been praised for her excellent performance. She had been celebrated for murder.

Her target hadn't seen her, but Ruby had seen the blood and body, a huge hole in the forehead. She had run away, screaming silently, until the helicopter thing had extracted her. It had been named after some kind of bird… Sparrow? No, Pelican. That was it.

Ruby smiled lightly, still shaking, glad she was able to find entertainment in the smallest things, and guilty for the same reason. Killing someone on the battlefield was one thing. She had just committed a planned murder. It wasn't a necessary death, such as deaths on the battlefield. It wasn't a noble death. One moment a person had been alive, the next they hadn't. Ruby was even more upset and scared by how easy it had been. She had just pulled the trigger, and a human life had ended.

She heard another Freelancer walk into the locker room, but she ignored it, trying as hard as she could to silence her sniffles. A hand patter her on the back, hard enough to knock her onto the floor. She let herself lay there, she deserved the discomfort. A voice was talking, and she was pulled up, and sat back down on the bench. Why couldn't the voice just go away? It wouldn't stop talking.

A second, more familiar voice joined the conversation. Tau, she recognised. When someone had been living in your head for a month, you tended to know their voice well.

The other voice kept its familiar hum, and Ruby turned minutely to it, only to lack the willpower and determination. They would go away soon enough, she figured. And then she could be left to her mourning. Mourning of a person she didn't even know the name of, who's life had ended so abruptly.

She felt a sharp pain against her cheek, and her head spun to the left. Her cheek was stinging. She was confused at first, until she realised her helmet was gone.

"-ap out of i-" The voice besides her said. She started to turn to them, before letting her head fall again. The person besides her sighed in frustration, and Ruby felt another blow on the same cheek. Good. She deserved the pain, she was a terrible person.

Tau started talking again, and the voice replied a few times, before a third voice joined in. That was strange, she hadn't heard anyone else enter the room, and she definitely wasn't talking. After a short conversation, whoever it was walked off. The room feel back into its silence, to which Ruby was glad. Ruby had sworn to protect humanity… ALL of humanity. Not just a select few. Yet she had broken that rule… twice.

* * *

><p><strong>TIME: 0553<strong>

**DATE: XX/XX/XXXX**

**Location: Locker room**

Ruby stood up, picking up her helmet. She didn't remember when she stopped crying, her whole body had just gone numb, and even now she didn't particularly want to move. But she had glanced at the time, and knew other Freelancers would be using their lockers soon. It was fairly standard for them to be up and about at six.

She made her way back to her room, her body on autopilot, steering her back without thought as she donned her helmet. No point letting others see her in her moment of weakness… she didn't deserve their concern. On her way, she saw a Pelican landing in a nearby landing bay. Huh, so the others were finally back from their missions. Good to hear it.

She turned into her room and threw off her helmet, falling face first onto her bed. She was exhausted, and fell asleep almost instantly, despite still having her armour on.


	7. Retaliation?

**Okay, here is the first chapter where things happen, or in other words, s*** gets real. I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

><p><strong>TIME: 1300<strong>

**DATE: XX/XX/XXXX**

**Location: Barracks, Room 107**

Ruby sighed as her alarm went off, sitting up slowly. She put on her helmet, walking out of her room and heading to the mess hall… it had been over a day since she had eaten last, and she was beginning to feel faint. Her body still felt numb, but she had found a way to deal with a grief. If she just ignored it, then it would eventually go away. There was only pain when she thought about the events.

She walked absentmindedly down the hallway, and after grabbing her food, sat down in her normal seat. Just like always. In fact, it was better to think nothing had changed, she had learned from experience that if she acted that way, the pain would go away. But somehow, this seemed more personal than when her mother had died. Ruby chuckled at the thought, a stranger's death meant more to her than her mother's.

She felt a hand clasp her on the shoulder, and jumped in surprised, spinning around.

"You okay, kiddo?" York asked. She hadn't been aware they had returned from their mission, meaning the rest of them would probably be back too.

Ruby nodded in response. "I'm fine," She said cheerily. York seemed somewhat taken aback by her optimistic behaviour, but hid it quickly.

"Good to hear. Just so you know, if you ever need to talk, I'm here for you."

Ruby glanced over his shoulder, and sure enough, Carolina, North and South were sitting, seemingly waiting for him. "So, how did the mission go?"

York sighed. "It went well… in theory. We were trying to find the leader of the Insurrection but…"

"Who?" Ruby asked.

York sighed again. "You know the people from the highway? Them. Well, anyway, their leader wasn't there. Our information was faulty, but we think we've found him this time. At least, I hope… Eight times the charm?"

There was a shimmer of green next to York's shoulder, and a green being that resembled Tau appeared. "Statistically speaking, it is likely that if they were able to see us coming, they will be able to do so aga-"

"Give it a rest, D. We've been over this." York said in a resigned manner. Clearly he had been having that conversation often.

"You have an A.I too?"

"Yeah, this is… wait, too? No one else has one yet, although Carolina and North are apparently about to get theirs." York stated questioningly.

Tau flickered to life on Ruby's shoulder. "A-actually there are three fragments, including myself, that were deployed before this… 'D' of yours." It said, and Ruby smiled. Tau's self-confidence had skyrocketed lately, while it had been trying to console Ruby. The two understood each other much better now that they both were living in waking nightmares.

"Logging off." Delta replied quickly, vanishing.

Ruby felt Tau's stab of despair at that.

"What was that about?" She asked.

"Our A.I can't communicate directly with each other. It's against the rules, didn't you know?" York replied. Immediately, Tau calmed down slightly.

"Oh, er…. Right. My bad." She lied. She'd had no idea that was a rule, but it was probably best if he didn't realise just how ignorant she was. After all, he thought she had undergone the same training he had… which wasn't even nearly true.

"So, what've you been up to lately?" York asked.

Ruby flinched visibly. "Oh… not much, really." She lied. York clearly didn't buy it, but he seemed to understand she didn't want to talk about it.

"Well, actual-"

"Tau, log off." Ruby interrupted. She felt a stab of guilt when she felt the fear was over her A.I, but ignored it. The A.I complied, vanishing quickly. Ruby turned back to her comrade. "You should probably head back to your friends, they seemed to be waiting for you." She said, nodding in Carolina's direction, who was currently staring at the two.

"Oh, yeah, right. You wanna join?"

"No, that is fine. Have a nice day." Ruby replied, and York walked off casually. Ruby removed her helmet and started eating, checking her reflection to make sure it wasn't too obvious she had been crying. Luckily, she looked almost the same as she had yesterday. The only difference was her eyes seemed… colder.

She was surprised to see someone join her at the table, none other than Texas. That was odd, she'd never seen Texas in the cafeteria before.

"You okay, kiddo?" Tex asked.

Ruby smirked. "I think you know the answer to that, don't you." She somehow knew lying to Texas would be a waste of time.

"Good point."

"So why are you here? You don't have any food."

"I don't know. I just think this is the last chance I'll get to really talk to anyone, don't know why. But I've learned to trust my instincts."

Ruby sighed, finishing her food. "I don't see why, you have all the other Freelancers, and I'm sure one will always be available."

Tex snorted. "Oh yeah, cause they're such good company. All of them are greedy and competitive to a fault. You aren't like that."

"Meh. I'm not going anywhere." Ruby replied.

"Yeah, you clearly don't know the Director very well, do you?" She asked, although it wasn't really phrased like a question. "Besides, I wanted to see how you were holding out. You seemed pretty distressed yesterday."

Ruby averted her gaze. "I'm surprised you care."

"I am too." Tex said, standing up. "But I guess you and I are kind of in the same boat. We don't really belong here, and because of that, we'll never fit in."

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked, but Tex was already walking off. Did Texas know about where she was from?

'_Um… where ARE you from?_' Tau asked in her head.

"Never mind." Ruby growled. Tau once again shrunk back in fear. She sighed. "Sorry, it's just a bit of a… sore subject." Ruby lied. It was amazing how easy lying had become for her. Tau seemed reassured by her answer, and slightly more confident.

Ruby stretched, donning her helmet again and leaving her tray, walking off to the armoury to tinker. It was a good way to pass the time.

The halls were deserted, to which Ruby wasn't really surprised. Usually, the other soldiers would only be seen at meal times, and One O'clock wasn't really a standard meal. The Freelancers had specialised, personal training, so they were allowed to eat whenever. The other soldiers were probably off somewhere else.

The familiar sight of the armour began to near, and Ruby smiled a genuine smile. Perhaps today wouldn't be too bad?

"May Agent West Virginia please report to the debriefing room immediately." The familiar voice of F.I.L.I.S sounded. Ruby sighed, beginning the walk there. Another mission, so soon? Didn't they have other Agents to deal with it? True, she had only seen about ten of them, but she had heard there were at least forty. Also, she was annoyed because she had LITERALLY just arrived. And the debriefing room was in the opposite direction from the cafeteria.

On her way, she passed the leader board, as usual. But what caught her eye, was that she was in the number three position. When had she moved up? Only Carolina and Texas were ahead of here, but she was sure Maine should be higher. Usually the board only switched due to excellent performance, and someone messing up badly. Unless Maine had somehow messed up, she really didn't see how he had fallen to fourth.

But… wasn't he in hospital right now? How could he mess up a mission while lying in a hospital bed? Ruby shrugged. It was probably best not to dwell on it for too long. She arrived at the debriefing room, stepping in to be greeted by a too familiar sight. The Director and the Counsellor, standing in the shadows. She mentally sighed, but outwardly saluted. What could the two possibly want from her this time? She had already broken the moral value she held most dear, what else did they plan to take away from her?

"Greetings, Agent. At ease." The Director said in his annoying voice. What accent was that anyway? Ruby had never heard one like it before. She lowered her salute, still facing the man. "I take it you can guess why I have called you here today. Another mission has come up, one we believe you are best suited for, as it will need to be completed quickly. Your window is short."

"Very well, sir." Ruby replied. It sounded like another assassination mission, she thought with contempt. She felt strangely detached from the thought, although it still pained her.

"You will be deployed to one of our simulation bases, named Rat's Nest. More specifically, to the blue team stationed there. You are to assist them."

Huh. Somehow, that didn't seem nearly as bad as an assassination mission, although she still had a foreboding feeling about it.

"Sir, yes sir."

"You are to leave immediately. Time is short, Agent. Try to resolve the situation quickly. Report to Hangar Six for transportation. That will be all."

Ruby turned and left, sighing on her way. Simulation bases, hadn't York mentioned those before? They used soldiers as target practise. Oh well, at least they were soldiers… that wasn't as bad as civilians. Ruby chuckled mentally. Had her regard for human life really fallen that much so quickly? As she thought about it, she came to a resolution as to why she was so calm.

If she refused to kill on the Director's orders, she would lose his trust. She had killed in the first place to gain their trust. So if she lost it now, then she would be wasting the lives she had already taken. In a way, she was honouring them. A very sick, messed up way. She really wasn't cut out to be a soldier, was she… well, not here. Being a Huntress was being a soldier, just fighting Grimm instead of humans.

'_What is a Grimm?'_ Tau asked.

Ruby mentally slapped herself, having forgotten the program could hear her thoughts. "Hey Tau, is there any way for you to… well, not listen in to everything I think?"

"I guess… if I am active I cannot hear your thoughts." It said through its more solid voice, having appeared near her shoulder. Ruby still felt an emotional bond, but it was more distant, as though the two were more separated. She guessed they were in a way, for which she was glad.

"Good. When we're in private, please activate."

"Okay." It replied.

Ruby turned the final door, arriving in the Hangar she had been sent to. As usual, a Pelican lay in wait, which she quickly boarded. The pilot was nowhere to be seen.

"Welcome aboard. It's a pleasure to have you." The pilot called out amiably.

"I wish I could say the same." Ruby replied quietly.

"Not looking forward to your mission? I wouldn't worry too much. Command told me to wait for you, so it probably won't take long."

"That's what I'm concerned about." Ruby replied. The two fell into silence, each unsure of how to continue, as Ruby felt the Pelican begin to take off. There was a faint whistle of the engines as they began to deploy.

However, it didn't get the chance. A loud bang went off, and Ruby was flung to the side of the ship painfully. The cockpit exploded into flame, and the pilot screamed out in agony. Ruby quickly dashed forward, and saw the pilot's arm was trapped beneath a piece of metal, which had fallen on it.

"Warning! Enemy projectiles approaching!" Tau said to her, panicked. Ruby threw the metal off the pilot, and grabbed them, shooting out the window to the cockpit in front of them and jumping.

The Pelican exploded behind her, and a piece of rubble hit her in the shoulder, going right through her armour, aura, and coming out the other side. Ruby gasped in pain, dashing towards the halls with the pilot in hand, and activating her radio. "We need a medical team, Hangar Six!" She called out desperately.

"Medical team, en route," F.I.L.I.S said calmly. "Please remain where you are."

Ruby looked behind her at the smouldering wreck that was the Pelican. Luckily, the Hangar had been mostly deserted… only her and her pilot. It was a burning plane of wrecked metal now, and even as she watched, more missiles were coming through the glowing barrier that marked the entrance.

"NOT AN OPTION!" Ruby yelled to herself, sprinting towards the halls. The missiles exploded right behind her, flinging her forward. She hit the doorway, and much to her annoyance, felt her consciousness begin to slip. The pilot fell to her side, no longer seemingly in pain. Unconscious or dead.

Ruby looked back up at the Hangar, and saw a Pelican fly into it. But this wasn't the normal type of Pelican, it was… different. It was hard to see how, but it was.

She heard footsteps through the hall at her left, and saw a medical team rushing to her, only for the hallway to collapse on them. They screamed out in pain. That wasn't good. Looking back at the ship, she saw figures in armour begin to get off.

"Tau…" Ruby croaked, crawling slightly to the collapsed wreckage. "How long can you hold active camo?"

"An hour at most." It replied.

"Use it sparingly…" Ruby said, as she felt the blackness encroach further on her.

* * *

><p><strong>TIME: Unknown<strong>

**DATE: XX/XX/XXXX**

**Location: Outside Hangar Six**

* * *

><p>Ruby was awoken by a loud bang. Her eyes shot open, although she remained motionless. She turned slowly, carefully. To her right, a familiar figure was standing over the pilot, a gun in their hand. The pilot had crawled further down the hall. They were wearing armour she recognized belonging to the… insurrectionists? Yeah, that was it. Her visor was cracked, and she wasn't sure how that had happened.<p>

Another two familiar figures walked past the first. They were also insurrectionists. "You stand guard." One of them, clearly male, said, dashing off down the hall. The first figure nodded. And leaned down to the pilot, touching their hand to the pilot's chest.

"I am really, really sorry. Truly. You have my sympathy. I was told no one would be in that Hangar. But a quick death is better than a slow, painful one… so may you rest in peace." The figure said. Their voice… it was so familiar.

The figure took off their helmet, and Ruby's eyes widened, her mouth gaping.

* * *

><p><strong>So, yeah! The Insurrectionists are trying to reclaim their stolen property! That never happened in the actual show, which I found to be a bit... odd. So, during the interim from S9 and S10, things will happen! Until next time!<strong>


End file.
